angelique

Few things make me happy. Most of them I have encountered or perceived while stimulated by immense amounts of caffeine. And probably also sugar. But, there is no question about the difference between my indifference to most things and the sublime joy inspired by others, like CAFÉ ANGELIQUE.

I have drank coffee far and wide, many a cup. But nothing compares to a simple café au lait chez Angelique. I used to go there every day when I had class near it last year in the mornings. I would order my coffee and pastry in preparation for my semester in Paris. (Like I needed preparation for the fucking google of calories I was about to consume over the subsequent 4 months). I have since struggled to recreate the magical, phenomène madeleine moment with other coffees, other pastries, lattés, cafés crèmes, pains au chocolat, macarons, du café viennois, et ben, je n'ai rien atteint. That's just it--I was trying to re-create a unique and original experience that cannot be re-created. Thus is the epiphany I had when I revisited my long lost favorite café on Bleecker. I will try not to describe like such a horrible romantic, but their chocolate almond croissants are unparalleled, and they dillute that lavazza coffee with hot milk for me at an also unmatched ratio. Such singularity. But maybe it's just familiarity. Maybe I find it so ideal because it matches a standard which I deemed satisfactory in the past, defining an expectation I am happy to satisfy. Like solving a cross-word puzzle that I made up myself.

Also they always play what I imagine was played on college radio in 1994.

I will have two classes near my favorite place next semester. oh how fate brings me back to the tested receptacles of my esteems.